"I can't listen to any more of this, this is a f***ing disgrace" An AI song posing as a new Architects release was published under the band's name on streaming services, and it sets a worrying precedent for where things may be heading

As the conversation around AI use in music continues to rage and intensify, a very specific case has emerged, showing that things are slowly but surely getting out of hand.

It concerns Architects, who this year released their 11th album, The Sky, the Earth & All Between, and recently finished a UK arena tour, which included an appearance at London's The O2. Very much in down tools mode as they rest and assess their next move. Which makes it all the more surprising that fans spotted a track appear out of nowhere on the band's Spotify account. That song was called Ashes of the Kingdom. The thing is, that one look at the artwork attached to the release, a picture of four individuals that kind of look like the band standing in the ruins of a burning skyline, revealed that this was AI-generated. Then, listening to the song cemented that it was absolutely all AI.

The song itself doesn't even sound that much like Architects, especially in their current iteration. From the robotic blend of melodic guitars and headache-inducing riffs, with no real rhythm to either, mashed with a vocal that sounds absolutely nothing like Sam Carter, it is more an amalgamation of what a computer thinks that modern metalcore sounds like, without any of the passion, power or purpose. If that was the intent, then it succeeded.

YouTube account Ohrion Reacts has released footage from his livestream where his chat informed him of the track, and he unravelled it in real time. "Yeah, I'm kinda fucking mad, I'm kinda pissed," he remarks whilst listening back to the track, before openly laughing at the chorus. "I can't listen to any more of this, this is a fucking disgrace," he finally states, finally switching the song off when it reaches new levels of disillusion.

Thankfully, very soon after it went live, the song was taken down and wiped, thanks to members of the band's Reddit community, who debunked and reported it to Spotify. But the fact that it was able to be posted on the band's official profile on Spotify feels like a massive red flag. As it stands, it seems very easy for anyone to drop off anything they like with distributors and have it make its way through to being live for the public to see. If there are no checks in place to stop this, it will only continue.

A.I. is getting out of control... this needs to stop! - YouTube

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In terms of the wider alternative and metal scene, this follows a recent debate centred on Holding Absence's Lucas Woodland. Lucas took to X (formerly Twitter) on September 30 to lampoon the fact that a band called Bleeding Verse, a band that states they are "inspired by artists like Dayseeker and Holding Absence” and use “AI-assisted instrumentation and vocals”, had overtaken his band in terms of monthly listeners on Spotify.

At the time of writing, Holding Absence have around 786,000 monthly listeners and Bleeding Verse have 1.5 million, showing that in the months that have followed, the gap has only increased.

His posts at the time read in full, “So, an AI ‘band’ who cite us as an influence (ie, it’s modelled off our music) have just overtaken us on Spotify, in only TWO months.

“It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting – most importantly - it’s a wake-up call.

“Oppose AI music, or bands like us stop existing.”

In reply to those both supporting and questioning his anger, he had this to say:

“What can we do?” - I believe we can only lobby for transparency now. Those artists should have “AI” on their Spotify artwork, so that playlists can’t sneak them onto playlists. Otherwise, violently support real music. Buy merch. Attend shows. That’s the most we can do for now"

“Make better music” was my favourite take btw. These models are LITERALLY TRAINED OFF MY BAND lmao. And then releasing songs at a pace physically impossible to replicate Chess robots have been beating human world champions for 30 years now. “Get good” is a petulant opinion.

Spotify had initially announced that it was intending to crack down on AI-generated music, having removed more than 75 million “spammy” songs in the past year. They also stated that AI ‘songs’ weren't impacting revenue earned by human artists in a “meaningful” way. Which still feels very suspicious.

Though last week, it was reported that Warner Music had signed a deal with AI-song generator Suno where the voices, names and likenesses of Warner artists who chose to opt-in could be used to create tracks.

“This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone,” Robert Kyncl, the chief executive of Warner Music Group stated. “With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetisation, we’ve seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences.”

So, with that in mind, where will these AI songs end up if not on streaming services? It doesn't quite add up, does it?

If it is this incredibly easy to take a band's likeness and post it so easily that people think it is them, maliciously or not, what does that mean for the future? And when it is clearly out of the hands of the bands, what with Architects clearly not even knowing such a thing was being added to their profile until it was flagged, and Lucas only finding out that their music has been used as a prompt when it is already out in the world, then where do we go from here?

The hope is that this scenario catalyses the powers that be to take greater care to ensure it doesn't happen again. But until then, it seems to remain up to the fans to be vigilant, loud and, most importantly, supportive of real music, real art and real bands.